[attach id=264100 size="medium"]One of the casters of the US’s famed Liberty Bell was Maltese.[/attach]
Many have heard of the Liberty Bell, an iconic symbol of American Independence, but few know that one of its casters, whose name appears on it, was a founder from Cospicua.
Giovanni Pace migrated to the US in the 18th century, where he settled down in Philadelphia and became known as John Pass.
The inscription on the bell, proclaiming liberty “throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof”, taken from Leviticus 25, verse 10, carries the names of Pass and Stow.
Several historians believe the Liberty Bell was one of those that marked the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776, four days after Congress adopted the declaration drafted by Thomas Jefferson on July 4 – 237 years ago to the day.
The bell had first been cast in London for the Pennsylvania State House, but it cracked when tested in Philadelphia, and John Pass and John Stow recast a new bell in 1753 from the same material.
Today it hangs at the Liberty Bell Center at the Independence National Historical Park in Pennsylvania.
Mario Attard, from Cospicua, told this newspaper that the bell, which weighs more than 900 kilos and has a diameter of 3.7 metres, was last rung in 1846 for a George Washington birthday celebration.
Mr Attard, 61, is a Maltese sixth form teacher who has researched Cospicua street names since the 1990s.
One is named after John (Giovanni) Pace, which triggered the researcher’s interest. He is still looking for information on where Pace’s birth certificate may be.
With the help of information provided by the American embassy, he has compiled information about Pace’s contribution to the casting of the Liberty Bell.
Speaking to Times of Malta, he said Pace was first identified as Maltese in a historic painting where he is posing next the bell with other artisans, showing a tattoo of the Maltese cross on his arm.
The Cospicua (Bormla) Heritage Society is also searching for any trails that might shed light on Pace.
Today the US will be celebrating Fourth of July with a dazzling display of global pyrotechnics – some of which were bought from Malta.
Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular, the nation’s largest Independence Day show, will feature 40,000 fireworks which will be launched 300 metres into the air from barges on the Hudson River, in New York City.
According to the New York Daily News, organisers for Macy’s spectacle “have scoured the world to find and purchase the most original new Technicolor eye candy – from China and Portugal to Spain and Malta”.